Volterra
by Jeffery H. Hilcock
Summary: I was a prisoner of the Volturi, and didn't know if I would be turned into one of them or into their next meal. A tale of the doomed Volterra tour.
1. Volterra

**1.Volterra**

I wiped the sweat , already forming, from my forehead as I exited the airport, and there she was. When I had looked at the picture that my friend Alex had shown me I was sure that it had been photo-shopped . But there she stood, her brown hair glistening in the moonlight and her strange violet eyes looked in my direction. A group of people had already begun to crowd around her , some I recognized from the plane ride here.

"Hello" she called, waving to me " are you here for the exclusive Volterra tour?" she asked, her voice so musical I was surprised she didn't just quit her job and become a singer.

"Yes" I replied , waving the papers that proved this in front of me.

"Welcome. I'm Heidi and I will be your tour guide here in Volterra , what's your name?" she inquired , looking down at a clipboard.

"Evelyn Blackwood"

"Alright" she said , checking off my name and already turning to greet more people coming for the tour.

I sighed wiping more sweat from my brow. I hated heat , and this was night, just wait until the sun came out.

More and more people came to our group standing outside of the airport until Heidi seemed to have checked everyone off and announced that we head to the bus .That gave me awhile to sit with my thoughts, which was never good. "_Thus conscience does make cowards of us all_" as is said in Shakespear's Hamlet, which was certainly true for me. I always over-thought things until I ended up doing nothing at all. It's a wonder that I even came here, my friends forced it upon me feeling that it might do some good to get away for a while. After my entire family, consisting of my mother, father , sister and brother, were killed in a car accident- well I haven't been the most fun person to be around. After a few months and a couple days before graduation Alex and Frances came across a cheap tour of a little known city in Italy. This , they felt was the perfect remedy for me, especially since I had always liked Italy and was planing on taking European History in University.

Suddenly the bus was rolling to a stop and people were getting up and grabbing their bags. We had to walk a couple blocks as the streets were too narrow for the bus. Finally Heidi led us up to a hotel , which was almost too nice for the price of the tour. We headed to our rooms , which overlooked a small road with little shops along the side. I got my own room , which was simple, with a bed and night table .I could hear the others noisily settling in as well and the wind whistling against my window.

At one point Heidi Knocked on the door to see that I was settled, and told me breakfast would be at nine-o-clock in the little restaurant across the street.

That night I was plagued by the same dream I had been having for months. My family was driving home after a new years party at the family friends house. It was raining and the wintry Canadian air turned it to ice on the road, creating the illusion that the road was made up of mirrors rather than cement.

I had stayed home because I was sick and needed to make frequent trips to the bathroom.

They were talking excitedly about events that had occurred during the day , my dad concentrating on driving carefully over the deadly road. Then out of nowhere something slams into the side of the car, and pushes it , sliding into the black Rideau river and everything fades.

I wake up shaking , as though I had been in the icy January water as well. The warn sun filtering through the windows does not fit with the mood from the dream. I open the shutters, glad for once to feel the heat rushing into the room.

I look at the clock , its eight- thirty. I grab my favourite tank top, white with lace on the bottom and some short checkered shorts, quickly brush through my strait light brown hair, and try to fix my bangs while brushing my teeth at the same time, slide on my flip-flops and rush out the door in record time.

About three fourths of the group were already congressed outside of the little restaurant, sitting at small tables pushed close together under a tarp .

"Is someone sitting here?" I ask a near-middle aged man , who is sitting at the end of the line of tables.

"No" he replies, making room at the minuscule table. I glance around, it looked like I was the only person here who was under twenty.

"It seems people have come from all over the world for this thing" the man says. As I look around I see that he is right.

"I'm Ben" he says, reaching out his hand

"Evelyn" I say , taking it.

" this is a beautiful city" he said , gesturing around to the surroundings " I never even heard of it until this tour."

Suddenly a man stood up in the middle of the set of tables and cleared his throat loudly to get everyone's attention.

"Excuse me" he said, addressing the group, " but since Heidi is sick, I will be taking her place for the time being in giving you your tour of Volterra."

" That's odd, she looked fine to me yesterday." someone whispered beside me.

He sat back down, and everyone began to eat again. When they finished , he stood back up again and announced that the fist thing we would be seeing would be Palazzo dei Priori.

As everyone got up to follow our new tour guide Ben cursed under his breath as he rummaged through a very large bag.

" don't tell me I forgot my camera" he muttered " I'm going to go back to my room to see if I left my camera there" he said to the tour guide. " I'll catch up with you guys", then to me " The city is so small, what's the worst that can happen, get attacked by pigeons?"

I laughed , the sound foreign to me . There were in fact _many_ pigeons frolicking around on tables, statues and window ledges.

As Ben hurried into the hotel , we took off on our tour of the city. It was like stepping back in time. There were beautiful ancient buildings , statues and fountains. I found myself , as usual, beginning to wish that I had been born in some other time period, to be able to experience history firsthand rather than observing and learning about it.

As the sun neared the horizon we reached the hotel. We had dinner at the same restaurant we had eaten at in the morning. It was then that I realized Ben wasn't with us.

"Where's Ben" I asked the tour guide

"Who's Ben?"

" The one who went to get his camera"

"...Oh, he had to go back home" he replied, looking down at Heidi's clipboard " family emergency"

"Oh" I replied twisting more fettucini Alfredo onto my fork. "So, what's wrong with Heidi ?"I asked nosily

"She has a virus , I believe, but she should be out by saint Marcus's day"

"Saint Marcus's day?"

"Yes, it's huge. Everyone dresses in red to celebrate, the streets are filled with people and no cars are allowed to enter the city. That's why I hope Hiedi is feeling better by then, because I will be keeping the cars from entering."

" That's interesting, I'll have to remember to wear red" I said smiling "when is it?"

"On the nineteenth... so in two days"

Dinner finished and everyone headed back into the hotel. Except for me.

"Is there a phone here" I asked the waiter

"Yes" and he brought me over to a phone in the back of the restaurant. I figured I should probably call my friends , as they insisted that I do so and I had already been here a day and a bit. The phone rang a few times until the machine picked up, I left a quick message then hung up. I was relieved that they weren't there , I didn't feel like retelling every small detail of what happened after I got onto the plane.

I slowly trudged up the stairs of the hotel, and could hear voices as people settled in for the night. There was one voice in particular that caught my attention. Its musical tone indicated that it was Heidi's.

"Im sorry Master !..." she begged. There was a pause, I assumed she was talking on the phone.

"But he saw me in the sun, what was I supposed to do?...yes...It won't happed again." Then she laughed and continued talking in a voice too low for me to hear.

I walked over to my room which was next to hers, thinking of what I had just heard. That had to be one of the most puzzling conversations I had ever heard. Who addressed anyone as "Master" anymore? and what was wrong with seeing her in the sun, its not like she was ugly. Maybe the virus had done something to her skin.

I got into bed , my thoughts turning back to Ben. I wondered what had happened. I usually found it creepy when older guys talked to me with no apparent wife or girlfriend present, but maybe his wife was sick in the hospital. It would make sense out of the "family emergency", and in all fairness I was the one who had sat next to him.

That night I strangely had no dreams. Perhaps my subconscious mind was preparing itself for something much worse.

This time my body was prepared to wake up early for breakfast. I was surprised that it had, as the sky was a bit overcast and it felt more like dawn than eight-o-clock . Today the tour would only take up half the day and the rest of the time we could use to explore the city. I decided I would use it to find something red.

The only attraction we saw that day was the Etruscan Guarnacci Museum. After lunch we were free to wander off into the city. I walked down the streets looking at all the shops. I got a little distracted from my mission when I came across a beautiful fountain that had, of course, pigeons on it. Then I finally stumbled across a store that looked promising and stepped in. It was a small shop, but I was just happy I had found one because I didn't own anything red.

I looked through the racks and immediately spotted the dress I wanted. I would have liked to buy it right then and there, but I supposed that I should probably try it on to see if it fit. I didn't like the dressing rooms . They were the kind that had a curtain instead of a door , and to make matters worse, the mirror was on the outside so if you wanted to know what you were planning on purchasing looked like ,you would have to leave the dressing room. I made my way up to the mirror, like a prisoner heading to the guillotine . I was planning on doing a quick once over, but as I reached the mirror my foot got stuck on the floor. I lifted it up to find a piece of gum stuck on the bottom. I leaned over and tried to scrape it off without falling over.

"Is that for Saint Marcus's day ?" a voice asked from behind me , making me, as I whirled around, almost crash back into the mirror. I hadn't heard anyone come.

"What?" I asked , momentarily dazed by the person in front of me. He was tall with longish blond hair and very pale skin. Very familiar though was his beautiful voice and violet eyes. I tried to push my dizziness aside and clear my head. "Oh, my dress" I answered dumbly looking down "yes"

" Sorry, I didn't mean to startle you" he apologized , but his smile gave him away. He spoke surprisingly clearly, without any sign of an accent.

" I didn't want to look like some silly tourist". I said waving my gum riddled shoe as I spoke. Obviously that plan was foiled.

" you're a tourist"he said " who is your tour guide?"

" well Heidi is our official tour guide, but she's sick so some other guy is taking her place" his eyes seemed to darken at this." Is she your sister?"

"What?" he asked, obviously taken off guard by the question.

"Its just that you have the same eyes"

"Oh" he said chuckling " no we're friends . I'm an albino so I wear contacts as people get a little frightened when they see red eyes , Heidi wears them purely for fun."

"Can I see your real eyes"

"Maybe tomorrow"

"Ah" I replied putting my shoe back on, did he really think he would be able to find me in the masses of red tomorrow. " You don't seem like you live here. Are you a tourist as well?"

" No I moved here a while ago" he replied , apparently smiling at some inside joke. Suddenly some thunder boomed off in the distance, this seemed to remind him of something.

"Well I better head off" he said, and with that turned for the door " nice dress" he called before it closed, and he was gone. It was then that I realized how late it was , the sun was nearly gone. I purchased the dress and headed out the door. Despite the lateness of the hour, I didn't rush back to the hotel. I had always favoured night over day, it was so much more serene than the hustle and bustle that light brought.

When I got back to the hotel It seemed that everyone had gone to bed. It started to rain as I got to the door and a loud clap of thunder sounded making me jump. I closed the door but the sound of rain and thunder and wind made its way into the building . I rushed up the stairs now eager to get to my room. I loved the serene night , but I also loved the energy and excitement of thunderstorms.

I knew I shouldn't be calling anyone during a storm but I still hadn't reached my friends. I decided to call Alex because she was staying in Toronto and I wouldn't have to worry about waking up parents, but as I picked up the phone to dial there was already someone talking. I was about to hang up when I heard something that made me freeze.

" you're a vampire now, so you will have to get used to these things"I heard Heidi's familiar voice say. Vampire? maybe she _was_ in a band.

" Tell me then" a voice I didn't recognize but just as beautiful, demanded.

Then Heidi went off describing a family that lived here in Volterra, they were over three thousand years old, and not just the family but the members as well she named them all and the additions over the years as well as the guards. I could picture everyone she described as if she were showing a picture with each person she described. She spoke of a law about keeping your Identity a secret. Then she mentioned someone named Edward and how they refused to kill him because he could be useful to the family , and about a human girl named Bella and a family that fed off animals rather than humans and how Edward planned on breaking the law by walking in the sun, so that his skin would sparkle like a billion diamonds . I was past the band theory by now. Then she mentioned Ben. She said he had seen her in the sun when he accidentally walked into her room and how she had no choice but to kill him. My blood turned cold as she described it, but I couldn't let go of the phone. I hoped that the thunder was loud enough to keep her from hearing me. Then she spoke of the tourists she was leading, how she would take them to the Volturi tomorrow so they could feed. By this point I didn't want to hear anymore. I followed the phone cord until I reached the outlet and pulled disconnecting my phone.

Then I started shaking, now that I didn't have to worry about Heidi hearing me on the phone, I put it back into its cradle. I sat on the bed mulling over what I had just heard. I had always dreamed that there would be some magical world I would step into , reading tended to do that to me, but I had never Imagined that it would be like this. I lay back trying to think of what to do. I could try and slip away now and hope noone will notice, or I could go and try and find Edward and co. Maybe then I could be turned into a vampire. I thought about that, would I _want_ to be a turned into a vampire ? Its not like I had anything to lose, my family was gone and I didn't look forward to anything in life anymore. Even before the accident I had always been moping around daydreaming of some other life, maybe this was my chance. It was extremely risky though, look what happened to Ben. I seemed to bring bad luck to everyone. I decided I should try plan A first, which would be to escape, besides since I knew vampires existed there was always a chance of finding more. It was unlikely I knew, but I had to tell myself this or else I would never leave even if it meant my doom.

I grabbed a few items , but left everything else in the room not wanting to alert Heidi with any creaking floorboards . The thunder was still throwing a fit outside so I hoped it would give me the advantage I needed. But when I opened my door I saw Heidi standing near the stairs, which would look like guarding even to someone who hadn't heard all that I did .Resigned, I headed over to the bathroom to make it look like that was all I was what I was doing , rather than trying to flee for my life. It appeared that Heidi wasn't leaving room for anymore mistakes. I stood in the bathroom and looked at myself in the mirror, I was very pale. I ran the water and brushed my teeth to try and make it seem less suspicions. It looked like I would have to resort to plan B.

I couldn't sleep that night , so I listened to my ipod. Music always seemed to help. I must have dozed off near dawn though because I had the dream again, but this time when the car went into the black water the dream didn't end. I looked out the window to see the water swallowing up the car, I felt like I could still get out .Then out of nowhere a pale shape moves in the distance I move closer to the window to see what it is , when two hungry black eyes appear in front of me.

I wake up covered in sweat. I look over and jump when I see Heidi standing at the door.

" sorry" she said, still at the door frame "I was just checking on you , you missed breakfast but that's okay we won't be leaving until eleven thirty."she closed the door as she left.

I looked at the clock, it was ten thirty. I had a quick shower and as I was drying my hair wondered if last night was all just a dream. No. I knew it wasn't and if I had heard correctly we would be the main meal for lunch today. I hadn't eaten breakfast but my stomach still lurched at the thought, it was probably a good thing I hadn't eaten because I felt sick.

I went back to my room and put on my red dress, it felt sufficiently less important than it had yesterday. I also put on my pearl Tiffany earings as well as a necklace. Sickly ten days after my family car fell into that black void, I won the lottery. It was enough money to indulge in things like Tiffany, I guess I was lucky in that sense.

I looked at the clock. It was eleven twenty-five. Time to go. When I got outside Heidi was there with the usual entourage of tourists , who, not so stealthily would sneak looks at her when they thought noone was watching. We headed off into the red filled streets .Saint Marcus's day.

We walked further than usual until we got to the place that was the point of this tour.

"Follow me" Heidi said to us ,and stepped into the doorway.


	2. All good things come to an end

AN: In this chapter pretend that Heidi walks directly into the room( the tower), rather than talking out side to Dimitri- or else this won't work.

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**2. All good things come to an end**

Heidi led us through the hallway, the tourists talking obnoxiously loud. I knew that the vampires would hear them before we even drew close to where they waited. Heidi talked about the history of the castle -something about it being a prison earlier - but I wasn't really listening, I was too busy wondering if I really was suicidal.

We entered a windowless room with many pictures of places we had just seen. I wondered if I would ever see them again . Heidi went up to the receptionist , " go on ahead" she smiled at us , dazzling the people directly in front of her with her seemingly innocent white teeth, " I'll catch up with you in a second. Just head down that hallway and through the doors" .

So onward the loud tourists trekked, oblivious of their imminent doom. One woman in front of me turned and asked me something in a language I didn't understand, she sounded really upset. Maybe not everyone was so oblivious. I thought of trying to warn her in some way, perhaps we both could get away from this , but, as I took her arm and turned around to sneak back to the reception room Heidi, who had apparently finished talking to the receptionist, was there blocking our path .

She gave us an inquisitive look, " the room is just up ahead" she said with an encouraging smile.

"yes" I said warily " but we were wondering if we could stop at a bathroom?"

" there is one just up there" she replied pointing to the doors the others had gone through. I could hear a voice greeting the newcomers , we were not getting out of this. The woman clutched at her rosary, seeming to have given up on me, and went ahead trying to ask others her unknown question, but it appeared noone spoke the language. I heaved a sigh an headed into the room.

It was beautiful in a cold sort of way, even though the sun pouring in from the high windows was warm. The people in front of me were already snapping pictures of their surroundings and pointing excitedly at various things. Others seemed to begin to sense the danger they were in.

Over in the corner I saw Edward , Bella and Alice. They looked just like the image I had gotten of them from when Heidi described them on the phone. I tried to get their attention but they were too busy trying to get Bella out, which was understandable. Not like they would know me anyway . I was the last to walk in so as I passed they hurried out the door . Heidi walked up to the figures sitting in very large wooden chairs whom I assumed were the Volturi .

I stealthily walk toward the doors but , obviously human stealth does not go unnoticed by vampires, and Felix slams and locks the door smirks at me and then heads over to the cluster of humans, an obvious glint of hunger in his eyes.

I try opening the door, first quietly then louder and louder as I become more desperate. That's when the screaming starts .I don't bother turning around , I just hold on to the door, as if by doing this it will magically open.

I figure that , since I'm going to die , I might as well sing quietly to myself while I wait, to block out the screaming behind me , and to keep myself from screaming as well .

"Flames to dust

Lovers to friends

Why do all good things come to an end

come to an end, come to and end

why do all good things come to an end

Well the dogs were barking at the new moon

Whistling a new tune hoping it would come soon

And the sun was wondering if it should stay away for a day

'Till the feeling went away

And the sky was falling and the clouds were dropping

And the rain forgot how to bring salvation

The dogs were barking at the new moon

whistling a new tune hoping it would come soon

so that they could die..."(1)

As the screaming ceases I can't help but turn around.

That was a mistake.

Standing directly behind me, inky black hair and chalk white skin sparkling from the light leaking in from the high windows, is no other than Aro.

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(1) Nelly Furtado, Loose, all good things ( come to and end)

This was the first chapter I wrote (even though it's the second) because this is where it started in my head while listening to Nelly . It's a bit shorter than the first so I'm not sure how I will proceed .( I had a lot of things to fill in in the first chapter)They could be longer or shorter.

Playlist: Afraid- Nelly Furtado -this is the song that started the whole story

All good things ( come to an end)-for good measure

If people don't review I will...Probably keep writing anyway , but they would be nice.


	3. Blood Bath

**3. Blood bath**

Behind him were bodies. I tried not to focus on some of the remaining people who were cowering helplessly , scattered around the room as the other vampires closed in. instead I tried to focus on the immediate danger that was in front of me.

" You have a wonderful voice" Aro complemented "even for a human."

I looked around seeing if there was any possible form of escape. There were none.

" Although there was this boy, if I do recall, who had a splendid voice as well...the 90's were such a wonderful time. Of course when I say 90's I mean 90 AD" he rambled.

" Do you always talk to your food?" I asked, my angry tone not quite covering the fear evident in my voice. He thought that was funny.

" quite the contrary my dear, actually I was wondering-"

"NO!" an angry voice roared from behind him, " I may not have your gift, but I know what you are thinking and the answer is no!"

"But really Caius" Aro crooned , looking up at something behind me and smiling " she could have potential" Caius looked in the direction Aro had looked, but appeared to have seen nothing.

"Aro you see potential in everyone"he growled

"Well yes, but I'm rather certain this time" glancing absentmindedly once again at the mysterious proof for this that was behind me.

I wanted to turn around and see what it was that had made Aro so sure that I would be so useful as a vampire. A sudden figure that belonged to Felix came hurtling towards me at an impossible speed and woke me from these thoughts. He was obviously unaware that Aro and Caius were there discussing wether I should live or die, he was too concentrated on how hungry he was.

Then several things happened very fast. Something that felt like a stone wall slammed into me which couldn't have been Felix , because he was hurled in the opposite direction .Dimitri walked into the room and said happily " you left one for me", only to be met with a loud growl coming from somewhere I couldn't quite see because I was flying through the air, and then hit the cold stone floor. I tried standing up, which was clearly a dumb thing to do as everything went white , and I found the floor had come back to meet me. Before I blacked out though, I heard Aro speak.

"Ah D'arcy" he sighed , as though nothing out of the ordinary had happened " so glad you could join us , although you're a bit late. You know I told you not to miss out on meals , I know you don't like killing innocents but you remember what happened last time" he chided " the things we had to do to cover that incident up" he sighed

" How could I forget" I heard a familiar voice, that I couldn't quite place, say angrily.

Why would such a beautiful voice be angry I wondered. I found it a bit funny actually and heard a chuckling sound , which I realized was actually coming from me and I quickly stifled it.

" Well" I heard the voice of Aro say " what should we do with her"

" I _was_ going to do with her what we are supposed to do with food but _he_ got in the way" Felix said angrily.

" No!" I heard that beautiful familiar voice growl. There was a pause , I wondered what was going on.

"Ah" Aro said after a moment , you know her."It wasn't a question. Then I remembered the power Heidi said Aro possessed, that phone call felt like it had been lifetimes ago. He had just seen all of the "mysterious voice's" thoughts.

" well I suppose we could put her in the south wing , until we decide what to do with her" He went on " unfortunately we cannot let her go , she knows too much..."

I wanted to hear more, but my body would not have any of that , the voices became jumbled and everything went black.

_aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa_

_Sorry about the song in the last chapter, I was really excited that it said " new moon" in it, and I may need it for the plot later ( although Evelyn was always going to sing, I had a big debate with myself on whether I should write the song out- in the end the song won)- but it was a bit forced into the chapter and for that I am sorry._

_Playlist: Eva Avila - some kind of beautiful_

_Cat Stevens - Wild world- Oh very young_


	4. Escape

**4. Escape **

The first thing I was aware of was the loud whistling of the wind. I lay with my eyes closed for awhile listening to the sound, and not sure why I was afraid to open them. I was usually pretty good at waking up and remembering exactly where I was , but now was an exception to that. Slowly, and with great courage, I opened my eyes. I was in a dark room , with a lamp softly glowing from behind me. I was facing a window, all I could see was the moon, its cold light streaming in and mixing with the warm glow of the lamp. I rolled over to see what was in the other side of the room only to be met with a pair of two red eyes.

"You" I said with a bit more venom in my voice than I had meant as recognition washed over me. He was sitting in a chair , looking up from a rather heavy looking book. Of course it was hard to remember exactly why I was angry with him, the moon was gleaming on his flawless skin making him look even paler than usual , as though he were some moon god. The most dominant feeling taking over me though, was shock.

"Well I told you I would see you again didn't I" those words brought _everything_ back. He , the seemingly innocent boy I had met at the shop where I bought my dress did wear contacts , not because he was an albino, but because he was a vampire. I remembered the dark look that had crossed his face when I had told him Heidi was my tour guide, and how certain he had sounded when he said he would see me on Saint Marcus's day , and lastly I remembered the beautiful voice that had saved my life.

" You hit your head pretty hard on the floor, is it okay?"He asked, worry tinting his voice. As if on cue , my head began to throb. He put the book down and brought over some aspirin.

"Vampires have aspirin?" I asked skeptically raising an eyebrow.

"Well no, but I thought you might need some" he replied shrugging.

"Thank you" I said taking the bottle. "Why did you do it?"I asked after swallowing

"What, get you the aspirin?" he asked chuckling.

"No, why did you save me out of all those people?" I asked my voice disbelieving " there were so many , why me?"

He hesitated. "well, I don't know how you figured this out, but I and those others you saw are vampires."

" I heard Heidi talking on the phone back at the hotel."

"And yet you still came here" he said incredulously "why?"

"That's beside the point" I said , ignoring his glare " don't change the subject." He said a few things under his breath really fast that were too low for my ears to hear, then came over and sat beside me.

"Well" he said " if you know so much, did you hear about vampires having powers?"

"Yes"

"I have a strange and rather inconvenient gift" he said 'gift' like it were fowl tasting " you see I can feel peoples emotions , much like that Cullen, Jasper, as far as I know he is the only other who shares that gift with me. But in addition to sensing their emotions I also feel their physical pain"he said scowling

"Is that what Aro meant?" I asked " when he said it was difficult for you to feed?"

He gave me an odd look "well it's a bit hard to feed and feel exactly what your victims feeling while your doing it, it makes feeding rather tedious"

"Ah" Was all I could say , trying to imagine what it would feel like , while at the same time

trying not to.

"The reason" he half spoke, half sighed "that I went up to you in the first place at that shop, was because among all the happy shoppers , you were surrounded with misery" he began speaking really fast " and although I can sense peoples feelings, I can't tell why they feel them and I was curious as to of what brought on such great unhappiness. Obviously I couldn't just go up to you and ask 'hello, why are you so miserable?'" he stoped, as if waiting for something. He wasn't disappointed, I could already feel the anger welling up inside me.

"So the only reason you saved me was because you wanted to quench your curiosity" I said angrily.

"Your angry" he sighed

"Ha!" I barked "well you don't miss anything do you, too bad you don't have Edwards or Aro's power then maybe you could get it through your thick skull as of why!" I stood up angrily, but too quickly because everything went white, and I was forced to sit back down with a loud huff.

"You know Edward Cullen?"

I replied by crossing my arms and glaring at the chair at the end of the room. I could sit like this all night if I had to, but my stomach betrayed me with a loud growl.

" I almost forgot, Its funny that Aro should be the one to remind me that you would have to eat" he said as he got off the bed and went to the door " since it wasn't that long ago when I was human"

After he closed the door, I sat still, listening to the wind. I tried getting up again, this time slowly. It worked, I was able to get up without being blinded by white. I walked over to the door. It was locked. So this was how it was going to be, I was a prisoner of the Volturi , and didn't know if I would be turned into one of them or into their next meal. I walked over to the window and pressed my face up to it letting the cold spread over my cheek , it seemed to clear my head. I suddenly realized that my room/prison was on the ground floor , this was encouraging. I tried opening the window , and this time I was lucky and it kindly opened .Suddenly I heard the squeaking of wheels and quickly closed the window, hiding evidence of my discovery. I rushed back to the bed into, hopefully, the same place I was before, and tried to calm my racing heart as the door opened.

"I wasn't sure what you liked"he said , wheeling a silver trolley into the room. "So, I gathered Italy's finest, and here it is!" he said beaming as he rested the trolley beside a small table I hadn't noticed before. I debated on whether or not I should go, another growl of my stomach made the decision for me. I slowly got up and headed for the table, as I sat down my personal guard took the seat opposite me . I was momentarily dazed but the smell of food brought me back to my senses . It turned out I was famished.

"How long was I out?" I asked reaching for the most familiar thing on the trolley. Pizza.

"Thirteen hours"

"That explains a lot" I said devouring the defenceless pizza and reaching for a brochette . He was silent, staring at the table, his eyes distant.

"There was something else"he said so quietly I had to stop eating to hear. " I don't know what it was , but when I saw you , there was something about you that seemed so familiar, yet I knew I had never seen you before." he finished , his face reflecting his confusion.

I wasn't sure how to respond to this, so instead I took a sip of the wine that had been on the trolley.

"Im sorry"

I looked up and immediately had to look away, the intensity in his eyes seemed to be boring through me. " for what?" I asked still looking down.

"Everything, this mess, I should have done something."

I heaved a sigh and finally looked up at him " its not your fault" I said, "I'm just very unlucky"

"I should have at least stopped you from going back to the hotel"

"And say what" I said " I doubt I would have believed the truth"I said smiling .This seemed to help as the intensity finally left his red eyes.

"So" I said trying to lighten the mood " how old are you and exactly how long ago did you move here?"

"Well, I was born in 1806 so that would make me two hundred and one years old, and I came here in 1924." he said smiling.

"I thought you said you were human not so long ago"

"Well I was comparing myself to Aro"

"True" I was silent for a moment "You wanted to know why I was so miserable?" I asked.

"You don't have to tell me" he said looking down at the table.

"Well I'm going to"I said " funnily enough , that was one of my happier days."He raised his eyebrows .

"It was new years" I continued "I was at home sick , when a little after two in the morning the door bell rang. I opened it to be told by two policemen that my entire family had been killed in a car accident. I was told that they had been hit from the side and were pushed into the Rideau river because of the ice covering the road. They said it was a minor hit but with the ice and cold water...The strange thing is that they never found the vehicle that hit them." I finished with a sigh.

I thought I saw a flicker pass through his eyes, but suddenly the door banged open to reveal Heidi.

"D'arcy, Aro wants to see you" she said looking at my guard, "don't worry" she said seeing the look on his face " I'll keep guard for you"

" I'm sorry" he said looking back at me, his eyes once again troubled, but this time with a new ferocity in them. He walked out the door and Heidi gave a curious glace in my direction.

Assuming that Heidi would be just outside the door, or close enough to hear me, I figured it wasn't safe to try my window escape plan.

Even though I had been in bed for thirteen hours, I was still tired. I turned the light off and flopped back onto the mattress. So my rescuers name was D'arcy. Now that I thought about it I had heard Aro address him as that, but in my defence I was half unconscious. Aa I drifted off to sleep I felt something sharp against my neck and realized I had not taken off my necklace or earings, but I was too tired to remove it and fell asleep.

When I woke up, with a glance around the room, I realized D'arcy still wasn't there. I looked at the clock, it was ten fifteen. I was about to get out of bed when the door banged open to reveal not D'arcy, like I had been expecting, but Felix. I fell off the back of the bed in my haste to escape, before realizing that trying to escape was utterly pointless. Felix just smiled. I backed up until I felt the cold wall against my back. He took his time, he knew as well as I that I had no chance of escaping.

"I was hoping we would meet again" he said smiling menacingly " you know it's for the best, that I kill you now. You wouldn't want to wait only to get your hopes up and be disappointed, because you _will_ be disappointed" he continued smirking as he took a step closer. What he said next made me freeze. "If they were going to change you , they would have done it by now."Then a very angry D'arcy barged into the room accompanied by Heidi and Demetri . Seeing that he was outnumbered Felix grudgingly left the room with one last glance at me. D'arcy started yelling at Heidi on how she should have been guarding me. It was then that I realized I wasn't being guarded just to keep me from getting out, but to keep others from getting in. The damage was already done, Felix was right. Why was it taking so long for me to become a vampire? My plan to escape seemed more important ever.

Unfortunately it also became more difficult to follow through with. After Felix , D'arcy would hardly ever leave the room making it impossible to get out. Of corse there were times when I didn't want to leave, but Felix's words echoed at the back of my mind reminding me that this little utopia wouldn't last. I finally had a change of cloths because D'arcy had gotten Heidi to get them from the hotel, she seemed sincerely sorry for what had happened. Of course she also had to get all the other guests things as well to avoid suspicion as of why thirty some guests decided to leave with all their belongings left behind.

My chance came when Heidi was busy 'fishing' so D'arcy had to get my dinner. As he closed the door, I sat still for awhile contemplating on whether or not I should leave. I knew I had to.

I quickly grabbed my black sweater and hurried over to the window. I half worried it wouldn't open with all of D'arcy's extra security measures , but thankfully it did. The sun was hanging low in the sky , and the trees were casting long shadows. I was standing on the edge of a steep decline, with the full force of the wind blowing against me. At the bottom I could see the ocean with small specs of boats, maybe I could get on one and get out of here. It would be harder for the Volturi to follow my scent, but would I really want to be on the run for the rest of my life? I had to at least try. It was hard to try and quickly escape down a steep slope without falling. I was about halfway down when my foot suddenly caught on a root jutting out of the ground. I tried to put my other foot out to stop me but I was falling too fast. I threw my arms out to try and brace myself for impact, when I was pulled back by two cold hands. I was whipped around to be face to face with a very angry D'arcy.

"What are you doing!" he yelled over the howling wind.

"What do you think" I yelled back, still a bit breathless.

"Do you know how dangerous it is? Some of us might not want to see you dead, but others would be more than happy to have an easy snack."he said his face wrought with worry.

"Well at least this way I had a chance of escaping, back there it's like waiting for my death sentence"

"What?"

"Well If I were going to be turned into a vampire, wouldn't they have done it by now?" His face was like a fireworks display of emotions, first surprise, then anger, then he seemed to pull it into a somewhat calm and collected expression. He half walked half dragged me over to a place that was semi protected by some rocks and low trees, here the wind was a low whistle and we could actually talk without yelling.

"Actually" he said sitting on one of the rocks "Aro gave that decision to me"

"Then what's taking so long! Did you decide I would make a better snack than vampire" At first he looked like he was going to yell some more, but then he surprised me by smiling.

"That's not funny" he said still smiling. He pulled his face into a more serious expression " the reason I haven't changed you yet is because I met Edward once when he came to Europe a while ago. He told me what he thought about how when you become a vampire you lose your soul. It's a big decision, usually people are on their deathbed when turned into one , its one thing to take away someone's life , but their soul? that's a terrible burden."He seemed he had more to say.

"But?" I persisted.

"Well...what if it isn't true, even Edward believed , for a second ,when he thought he was dead, that he was in heaven. Yes we are turned into beings who rely on blood to survive, but humans kill each other for less important reasons and animals without a thought, and what exactly is the definition of a soul? The capability to love, to care for others. What are humans but a higher form of animal to us?"

"Wow, you have put a lot of thought into this!" I said laughing

"But there still is a chance that the change does take your soul, and _that_ is reason enough to not want to risk it."

"True" I replied " but if you don't I'm going to be killed, either because I know too much, or just for a meal." He looked at me, his eyes deep in thought.

"Do you want to be turned into a vampire?" he asked " even if three days of excruciating pain follow and there is a chance of losing your soul?"

"Yes" I said firmly.

"Well in that case" he said, and leaned his face towards my neck.

aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa

Playlist: Glow, showtime, No Hay Igual, do it-Nelly Furtado

Reason-Cascada

who's to say- Vanessa Carlton


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